COMPARATIVE AND ANALYTIC APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CONVERTING TWO-DIMENSIONAL BIT MAP DATA INTO THREE-DIMENSIONAL DATA

摘要

A method is provided for converting a two-dimensional image or bitmap of a handwritten mansucript into three-dimensional data. The three-dimensional data can be used to automatically recongnize features of the manuscript, such as characters or words. The method includes the steps of : converting the two-dimensional image into three-dimensional volumetric data; filtering the three-dimensional volumetric data; and processing the filtered three-dimensional volumetric data to resolve features of the two-dimensional image. The method can be used, for example, to differentiate between ascenders, descenders, loops, curls, and endpoints that define the overall letterforms in handwritten text, manuscripts or signatures.